Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 117: Atlas/Marvel Science Fiction & Horror Comics!

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 102

April 1956 Part II

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Mystery Tales #40

Cover by Carl Burgos

"The Hidden Land!" (a: Manny Stallman) ★★

"A Warning Voice!" (a: Vic Carrabotta) ★

"Crossroads of Destiny!" (a: Jim Mooney) ★1/2

"Sammy's Secret!" (a: Werner Roth) ★★

"The Silent Stranger" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★1/2

"March Has 32 Days" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★1/2

In the mediocre "The Hidden Land," an accountant discovers the secret behind the success of his billionaire boss when he stumbles upon the tycoon's powerful ring. When he dons the ring, the numbers man suddenly feels an odd feeling flow through him and realizes he too can make a billion bucks. But, upon reflection, our hero decides the pressure and misery aren't worth the riches. "The Hidden Land!" isn't horrible (and it's got some interesting Stallman penciling), but it's not very believable. If you had a special ring that enabled you to become rich and powerful, would you leave it lying around on your desk for anyone to steal?

Stop me if you've heard this one: Sgt. Harmon is heading back from a two-year stint in Germany, worried if his precocious young son will remember him, when "A Warning Voice!" rings out in his head: "Watch Out! Watch Out!" Thanks to the mysterious messages, Harmon avoids death at several different points. Once home, he discovers the voice is emanating from his son's record player. In "Crossroads of Destiny," a dedicated scientist spurns the woman who loves him in order to perfect his bizarre "time machine." This gizmo doesn't just travel backward and forward but also hypothesizes what might have been! Rather than use the machine for the greater good of mankind (such as going back to the moment Bill Belichick decided to give up on Tom Brady), our hero ultimately learns that the greatest gift is the love of a hot brunette and returns to his girlfriend.

"Sammy's Secret!" is that he can fly like a bird, but Sammy actually has another secret, one even he didn't know about. He's actually from the planet Venus and was left behind years before (as a toddler) on an "exploring survey." No one questions the head of Venus as to why you'd take a little kid on an excursion to another world but, obviously, Venus does things a little differently than we do. In "The Silent Stranger," the residents of Bradford Valley have had it bad lately. The furniture factories have all closed and the town is out of work. What to do? Abigail Denton prays for a solution in front of the statue of long-dead ancestor (and Bradford Valley pilgrim) John Denton, and suddenly a silent stranger arrives in town to motivate the citizens to regroup and reopen the factories and... voila!... Bradford is back in business. But who was "The Silent Stranger"? You have to ask?

Scientists discuss the amazing phenomenon that has just occurred. All are in agreement that the March just ending lasted 32 days, but how? On March 31st, bridge inspector John Billings found himself with two choices: final inspection of the brand new bridge or see his wife off at the airport. Dedicated to the one he loves, John headed to the airport and then sat in horror as he heard the news of the bridge collapse on his drive home. Swearing he'd do it all differently if given the chance, John finds himself reliving the 31st of March. But will John make the right choice this time? "March Has 32 Days" is disposable fun, but don't think about it very much (how do the scientists know there was a 32nd of March?). Ditko's art is making this journey worthwhile again.-Peter

Mystic #46

Cover by Sol Brodsky

"The Mysterious Stranger" (a: Art Peddy) ★1/2

"We Interrupt This Program!" (a: Don Heck) ★★

"The Secret of the Key That Lived!" (a: Mort Drucker?) ★

"The Man Who Found Himself!" (a: Jim Mooney) ★★

"The Magic Shoes!" (a: Ross Andru & Mike Esposito) ★1/2

"For Whom the Sun Shines" (a: Bob Forgione & Jack Abel) ★

"The Mysterious Stranger" ambles into Fowler Junction one night, determined to help out the poor young man held in the town's jail. Seems the prisoner is accused of stealing a gold statue from the town's museum and a jury will surely find him guilty of the crime. The mysterious stranger acts as the accused's lawyer and gets him off, explaining that every man should get a fair trial. There's a strong, atmospheric splash but this one goes downhill from there. The twist, revealing the stranger's true identity, is clumsily handled when the exonerated young man reads the hotel's registration book and sees the name Diogenes.

Space visitors are after an atomic engine invented by Steve Carson. Are the aliens friendly or seeking the destruction of Earth? "We Interrupt This Program!" is notable only for its above-average Don Heck graphics. Heck's name became synonymous with "hack artist" thanks mostly to an infamous Comics Journal interview with Harlan Ellison, where the reliably big-mouthed writer called Heck "the worst artist in comics." The truth is, Heck's superhero stuff was the pits, but his fantasy work for the Atlas and Marvel titles is just fine, thank you. It's certainly more detailed and tolerable than a half-dozen other artists who were working in the Atlas bullpen at the time. Change my mind.

"The Secret of the Key That Lived!" is a ludicrous quickie about a scientist who stumbles upon a key that talks to him and persuades him to do really naughty things. Abner Barlow is "The Man Who Found Himself!" And just in time, to be perfectly frank. Abner is working for pennies at a company he almost single-handedly keeps in the black; his neighbors keep borrowing yard equipment they never return and his wife is starting to lose faith in her husband. Luckily, Abner's "good angel" comes down from above to right these wrongs and put the man back on track. A perfectly average fantasy tale with perfectly average artwork.

Matt envies anyone who has more money than he does, despite the fact that he has the love of a good wife and two spoiled-rotten little children. While moping in a cafe, Matt meets a strange man who promises him that he can find the treasure he's been seeking if he dons "The Magic Shoes!" and follows a handy treasure map. Somewhat skeptical, Matt pops the shoes on and, per the stranger's instructions, calls his address out loud. Amazingly, Matt finds himself back home!

Following the map, Matt spends three months away from the old lady and brats and is transported to Mt. Kilimanjaro, Cuba, and the Amazon. At each stop is another map pointing to the next destination. Exhausted, Mat finally gives in and transports himself to a brothel in Queens right back home again, where he discovers the greatest treasure of all: smiling Karen and the mini-mes. If Stan were still alive, I'd send him the bill for a mouth full of cavities; this is some of the most sentimental and predictable tripe we've stumbled on so far. I will say that Andru and Esposito manage to rein in all the bad habits they were known for in the 1950s and turn in a solid job.

When her sister suddenly passes away, Cathleen Gardner is thrilled to accept her nephew Buddy into her house. Cathleen's husband Avery is none too happy with his new housemate until Cathy explains that her sister was loaded and the lawyer will be calling soon to elaborate on the estate. Suddenly, Avery is all smiles. But the sunshine doesn't last and, one day, Cathleen receives a letter from the lawyer explaining that the wrong child was sent to the Gardners! Buddy explains that his name is really Danny and he kept his mouth shut because the Gardners seemed so nice at first. However, Danny's got a list of complaints about the recent atmosphere.

A bit miffed, the Gardners take Danny back to the orphanage, explaining that they can't afford another mouth to feed. As they exit the building, they're aware that black clouds and rain are following them. When they get home, they notice the paint is peeling, the carpet is moldy, and John Agar movies are constantly playing on the TV. Suddenly, an epiphany hits both like a right cross and they realize they miss Danny with all their hearts. They race back to the orphanage, somehow convince the director they are fit parents after dumping the kid twenty minutes before, and bring Danny back home. A few hours later, a knock at the door brings even better news: the real Buddy has been located and is on their doorstep, ready for a new life. "Heaven has truly opened for us," enthuses the bi-polar Cathleen.

If "For Whom the Sun Shines" weren't so blatantly stupid, it would be offensive. Never before nor since has there been an about-face like that of the Gardners, a couple who were one step away from burying a hatchet in the kid's head and hiding him behind a brick wall in the basement. A little rain and an unvarnished coffee table is all it takes in the New Atlas World to transform a heartless monster into a loving guardian. Well, unless (s)he's a Commie.-Peter

Spellbound #27

Cover by Carl Burgos & Sol Brodsky (?)

"Trapped in a Mirage" (a: Bob Forgione & Jack Abel) ★★

"Doubting Thomas!" (a: Joe Maneely) ★1/2

"Where There's a Will!" (a: John Romita) ★★

"He Saved the Earth" (a: Joe Sinnott) ★★1/2

"The Man Who Lost Tomorrow" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★★

"The Day the Earth Stopped Turning!" (a: John Forte) ★1/2

While visiting Egypt, Carl Drake sets off by camel to explore the desert and study the stars. He suddenly finds himself "Trapped in a Mirage" where he is back in Ancient Cairo. Prevented from leaving, he sees that it is 955 A.D. and recalls that the people went wild on New Year's Day of 956, when an eclipse blocked the sun. Fortunately, the next day is New Year's, and Carl escapes during the confusion. He returns to his own time but can't explain why his pack now contains fresh bread, wine, and fruit that can't be bought in modern Cairo.

We've read variations of this story many times before, but Forgione and Abel turn in a solid job on the art. What bugged me is the modern date on the Egyptian calendar. There's no way it would have read "955 A.D.," but maybe that's part of the magic of a mirage.

On a park bench, a well-dressed man asks the man sitting next to him why he's laughing and the man shows him a newspaper headline about a new, giant telescope that could determine if there's life on Mars. The two men argue about whether it's reasonable to suspect that life exists on the Red Planet, until the well-dressed man suggests that Martians do exist and can disappear at will. He then disappears before the other man's eyes! The man runs around trying to tell everyone he meets about the Martian, but no believes the former "Doubting Thomas!" and he knows he has learned his lesson.

Three pages is hardly enough space for Joe Maneely to do much with this story, especially when it's mostly comprised of two men sitting on a park bench, talking to each other.

Jerry Wallace inherits a house from his Uncle Fred, moves in, and finds that he's very happy and his paintings are better than ever. He becomes rich, marries a beautiful girl, and buys lots of modern gadgets, all of which attract freeloaders. Soon, he's no longer happy and his paintings are lousy. Jerry realizes that his uncle's instructions were to cherish the house, so he gets rid of the modern gadgets, treats his wife better, and soon he's happy again and his paintings are good.

A really dumb story can be elevated by good art, and John Romita makes "Where There's a Will!" bearable. He signs his name on the mailbox outside the house, which is a cute touch, and Jerry smokes a pipe in many panels, something I think of as a Romita touch.

Young Johnny runs to the barn to call his pop to supper but finds Dad slumped against a post. Johnny hears a whirring sound and Dad perks up; the lad suspects that his father has been replaced and runs and hides. Later, he peers through a window and sees his dad slump forward when his mom leaves the room. Johnny thinks of his train set and the transformer that makes the trains go. He looks around outside the house, digs up a metal box, destroys it, and his dad suddenly seems like himself again. In Outer Space, aliens give up on their plan to control the human race by turning people into robots and Johnny never knows that "He Saved the Earth."

I'm harsh on these Atlas stories, so when one surprises me, I have to give credit where credit is due. I thought that we were heading in a Body Snatchers direction, but having Johnny make the mental connection between his train transformer and what was happening to his dad was not something I expected. I also like Sinnott's art here, especially the purple, big-toothed aliens.

Stefan Bruchok deserts his army in the Balkans in 1945 and runs to an old house, where he asks a very old man to hide him. Thirsty Stefan notices three bottles on the mantel and the old man warns him not to drink from them, since they contain magic potions: one sends you into the past, one sends you into the future, and one makes you live forever. The old man says he's drunk the water of life and lived there for 300 years. Stefan freely drinks from the third bottle but it's a trick--it's the water that sends you to the past!

Stefan is transported to the year 1830, where he is once again a soldier fighting on the losing side. He deserts again and makes his way to the old man's house. This time he intends to drink the water that will send him back to 1945 but he mistakenly drinks the water of life and is sentenced to prison for desertion!

I don't enjoy Ed Winiarski's art but the twists and turns of "The Man Who Lost Tomorrow" kept me engaged, a rarity in a story written by Carl Wessler. It would have been better to find a way to end it by having Stefan sentenced to life in prison, though; as it is, he's only stuck in the past until he's released from the clink.

An Eskimo woman named Akana Migoo asks her husband Nimo to fix the wooden pole that holds up her clothesline. Suddenly, the wind snaps the pole! All around the world, ships go off course and planes land in the wrong place. Unexpectedly (or expectedly, since this is a post-code Atlas comic), no one gets hurt; on the contrary, peoples' lives improve! It seems the world stopped turning for some strange reason. Nimo repairs the pole and the world resumes turning. Why? It was the North Pole.

Cue the wah-wah music for the dopey end to this insipid tale. Forte's art looks pretty good, but...the North Pole? Seriously?-Jack

Strange Stories of Suspense #8

Cover by Bill Everett

"The Strange Crew of the Pegasus" 

(a: Al Williamson & Gray Morrow) ★1/2

"Don't Cross Your Bridges!" (a: Manny Stallman) ★★

"Super-Salesman" (a: Jay Scott Pike and John Forte[?]) ★★

"The Man Who Knew Too Much" (a: Mac Pakula) ★★

"Blind Alley" (a: Ed Moore) ★★1/2

"Thumbs Down for the Gladiator" (a: Bob Powell) ★1/2

Captain Conrad is such a tyrant that no one will come aboard his ship as crewmen. He needs to sail in the morning to keep his ship, so he's pleasantly surprised when several tourists agree to act as his crew. The ship sets sail, but the next morning the captain finds himself alone. The ship emerges from gloomy dark into daylight and is hailed as the first Earth vessel to be brought to Jupiter.

Carl Wessler's stories often make little sense, but "The Strange Crew of the Pegasus" makes no sense at all. The tourists sign on and then disappear. The captain pilots the ship alone for days. It heads to a circle of light in the darkness and emerges on Jupiter. How? Where did the crew get to? Even the usually reliable Williamson and Morrow can't make much of this three-page turkey.

Two young couples on vacation come to a bridge, where an old man tells them that the toll to cross is one true smile from the heart. The foursome have no trouble smiling and cross the bridge to find a natural paradise. Naturally, they decide to buy it cheaply and sell lots to make a profit, but they begin to quarrel and, when they return a week later, they are unable to smile from their hearts and thus cannot cross. They realize that they need to shed their selfish behavior if they hope to return.

"Don't Cross Your Bridges!" is another poor story with a sappy moral. The most interesting aspect is the way Stallman draws one of the women. She has short blonde hair and glasses and wears either zany socks or knee-high pink boots. She doesn't look like most mid-'50s comic women.

A "Super-Salesman" named Johnny Fry gets a trial run at selling a new vanishing cream, only to discover that the people who make it are aliens with sagging skin and the cream makes those who apply it to their flesh disappear and reappear on another planet, where they will be subjects for study. Johnny tricks the aliens by selling them vanishing cream labeled as cream to help sagging skin; they all disappear back to their own planet!

Pike and Forte (?) do a fair job with the art and make this story a tad more fun than it should be. Tale after tale, people turn out to be aliens! There were so many of them slinking around in the 1950s.

Victor Wyatt's new novel is rejected by publisher after publisher for being too imaginative. Finally, he finds an obscure publisher who buys it and says it's a hit! Victor receives bags of fan letters and a check for $5000 but can't find a copy in any bookstore. Finally, the publisher meets him at the airport to fly him to go on a lecture tour, only the tour is on Neptune! That's where the book is selling and the publisher remarks that it's amazing that Victor knows so much about the other planet, since he's never been there.

I was waiting for the big reveal in "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and I wasn't disappointed. Yes, the book was selling to aliens! The publisher is an alien! What else would it be at this point? Mac Pakula's art isn't bad but there's not a lot for him to work with here.

Two psychologists laugh about the limited intelligence of a guinea pig in a maze but are put through a series of mazes of their own at a carnival. Little do they know that the mazes were constructed by...aliens...who fly home in a rocket ship and remark on the low I.Q. of humans.

Silly me, I was expecting the maze to have been set up by a giant guinea pig. When will I learn? It's always...aliens. Ed Moore's art is sharp in "Blind Alley" and he draws some cool maze panels. It takes nerve to steal the title of one of the most memorable comic stories of all time, but this isn't half bad.

A boxer named Tony Gladero is arrested for espionage and thrown in prison, where he dreams of a past life. In that earlier incarnation, he was a Roman gladiator who was arrested for espionage and jailed. He escaped and found the real guilty party. He wakes up and the same thing happens in the present.

"Thumbs Down for the Gladiator" manages to be both obvious and confusing, all in the space of four pages. I like Bob Powell's art but this time his characters' lips make them all look like fish.-Jack

Next Week...
Introducing New Love Interest
Policewoman Patricia Powell!